Weblogs (blogs) are websites maintained by individuals who regularly post entries in reverse chronological order (Herring, 2004). Personal journal blogs, or blogs that are written primarily about the internal states and thoughts of the author, are the most common form of blogs (Herring, Scheidt, Wright, & Bonus, 2005; Viegas, 2005). Because of the emergent nature of this personal, yet public forum of blogging, this type of media use is ripe for research applying existing theories to new ways of communicating. The purpose of this study was to explore the applicability of social penetration theory and the hyperpersonal perspective to blogs. Additionally, motives for blogging were revealed, as well as their impact on disclosure patterns in blog profiles and entries. Finally, the effects of individual characteristics – age, gender, loneliness, and disclosiveness as a personality trait – and audience characteristics – whether blogs are public or private, and the target audience – on bloggers’ private disclosures in their blogs. The uses and gratifications perspective was employed to devise a conceptual model incorporating these components to predict the dimensions of disclosure in blogs.
A cross-sectional study using online self-report questionnaires was administered to 303 personal journal bloggers. In accordance with social penetration theory, bloggers were generally more disclosive in their blog entries when they also revealed more identity management cues, such as their name, age, gender, location, and occupation. Eight motives emerged from a series of exploratory factor analyses – helping/informing, social connection, exhibitionism, pass time, archiving/organizing, professional, get feedback, and reporting details. Participants who blogged to get feedback, archive and organize their thoughts, and report details were more disclosive in their blogs. On the other hand, bloggers were less disclosive when they blogged for professional reasons and to pass time. Individual characteristics, especially loneliness and disclosiveness, predicted particular motives and disclosure dimensions. In terms of audience characteristics, whether blogs were public or private did not impact bloggers’ disclosure decisions. Instead, it was the target audience for whom bloggers wrote that affected the way they disclosed personal information in their blogs. Theoretical and practical implications of this study were discussed, especially as they inform future research on the social utility of the Internet.